HARRISONBURG, Va. - Bridgewater College
sophomore Kevin Chander tossed his second straight complete game to
pitch the Eagles to a 7-2 victory Tuesday over rival Eastern
Mennonite.
A week ago, Chandler blanked EMU, 4-0, with a two-hit,
complete-game gem. Tuesday, he was almost as good as he went the
distance again to defeat the Royals. Chandler allowed two
earned runs on six hits while striking out four and walking five.
Bridgewater scored two runs in the top of the first. Drew Easter
reached on an error to lead off the inning, stole second and moved
to third on a single by Kevin Kirk. Easter scored on Andy
Chrismer's single to put the Eagles on the board. Kirk was thrown
out at third on the front end of a double-steal for the second out
of the inning, but Brett Howell drove Chrismer home from second
with a single to make the score 2-0.
The Eagles added another run in the third. With two outs and
nobody on, Devon Snow walked and took second on a passed ball.
Easter then ripped a double into the rightfield corner to give BC a
3-0 lead.
After the Royals got on the board with a run in the fifth, the
Eagles put the game away with a four-run sixth. Howell singled for
the Eagles and swiped second. He scored on a single up the middle
by Andrew Hacker to make the score 4-1. Snow then walked, ending
the day for EMU starter Jason Pate. Relief pitcher Bryan Loy walked
Easter to lead the bases and then hit Kirk with a pitch to force in
a run, making the score 5-1. Mitchell Edwards followed with a
single to chase home two runs, putting the Eagles in command, 7-1.
Kirk and Howell were each 2-for-4 with one RBI to pace
Bridgewater's nine-hit attack.
With the victory, the Eagles improved to 9-10 overall and 6-2 in
the ODAC. The Royals are now 6-8 overall, 3-6 in the conference.
Bridgewater is back in action Wednesday when the Eagles travel
to play Mary Washington in a non-conference contest.
